The Handmade Soldier
by worldstealers
Summary: Sabé was a handmaiden assigned to protect Queen Amidala. But what happens when the child soldier grows up? This week's fic takes place ten years after The Phantom Menace. To hear it read check out our podcast, World Stealers, on iTunes, Stitcher, or our website !


The lights in the small auditorium seemed to shine brighter and hotter than usual. Sweat beaded at Sabé's temple and ran in small streams down her face, stinging her eyes. She paused, looking out over the crowd and took a sip of water. The women in the audience looked back at her, eyes shining, expressions fierce. She had them.

"We Naboo are women of peace. We will fight, but only as a last resort. We're sold on the virtues of loyalty and obedience at such a young age that it never occurs to us to question authority! But now it's time to fight back to fight back! We will not be pawns of these political machinations! We will not play the games of this hideous man who calls himself emperor! We will not be child queens and girl soldiers! And we will not! Be! Used! Again!"

The women jumped to their feet, applauding wildly and shouting their approval. The Naboo crowds were always easy to sway, though less likely to follow through. Sabé had quickly learned to prefer the female Gungans, warriors by birth who were less quickly won but steadfast once they were convinced. Her small compound ( _small but growing_ she reminded herself proudly) was about 70% Gungan at the moment. No matter. The Nabooan women would come around soon enough.

"Let these men fight their wars. We don't need them. We don't need the scraps of power and sovereignty they throw us. We are building our own movement, Naboo and Gungan alike. We will live in peace but they will know we are warriors. We will be the stuff of legend and nightmare, more fearsome than the Sando aqua monsters that haunt the depths of the seas. We will not seek a fight, but let them cross us if they dare!"

The small crowd roared and surged towards Sabé. Two ferocious-looking Gungans and a third muscular Nabooan woman stood at alert, ready to intercede if anything got out of hand, but Sabé was relaxed, greeting each woman, asking her name, reminding her to pick up more information on her way out. Sabé believed in her cause with a firey conviction that rivaled any Jedi master's or Sith Lord's, but a tiny, shameful part of her knew that what truly fed her soul was watching the crowds throng forward, desperate to meet her. These women knew her. Loved her. She was no one's decoy here. She was Sabé.

And hour later Sabé was alone in the hall. She slumped in a chair in the front row, exhausted, her traveling cloak slung over her shoulders. Her guards had gone to ready the Kaadu for travel, a task she normally enjoyed but today she felt far too drained to do anything but sit, head in hands, until it was time to leave. She hadn't slept last night and now it was all she could do to keep from nodding off where she sat. She failed to notice the quiet approach of the hooded woman until she stood at Sabé's shoulder.

"Sabé," the figure called quietly and Sabé jerked awake, hand on her blaster. The woman smiled and lowered her hood. "Easy soldier. It's only me."

"Eirtaé? What are you doing here?" She smile wryly. "Come to join?"

"Join your cult? Nah, I'm good, thanks."

Sabé looked curiously at her old friend. They were about the same build, though Sabé stood several inches taller these days. Otherwise they looked vaguely similar, alike enough in dark hair and pale complexion that they could be mistaken for sisters by those who didn't know them well. Handmaidens, after all, were chosen in part for their physical similarities to their queen and Eirtaé had served beside Sabé under Amidala. Unlike Sabé, Eirtaé had never served as the queen's body double, but the two had fought side by side to recapture the palace from the Trade Federation. Eirtaé, however, had remained loyally in Amidala's service long after Sabé had left.

"How have you been?" Eirtaé asked, sitting next to Sabé.

"Great. Amazing actually. I'm really building something here." 

"So I've heard. And what exactly is it you're building?"

"A society, Eirtaé. Of women. Of _equals._ Gungan and human alike. And other races too, eventually. We live and work and farm together and everyone has a voice and a say. And the children are allowed to be _children._ "

"What will you do when the company of women isn't quite enough?"

Sabé shrugged. "Women are allowed to take lovers. As long as it's understood that the men can't live with us and the children are raised in the compound."

"What if the children are boys?"

"I've thought about it. I'm still not sure. Maybe boys raised there will be allowed to stay. Or maybe they'll do good in the world as emissaries of a different way of thinking. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Eirtaé's gaze was steady. They had been close in service. Eirtaé had always taken Sabé seriously even though the other girls would have said Sabé was given to ridiculous notions and flights of fancy.

"How did you convince the Gungans to get on board?"

"They're fed up too. When was the last time one of their bosses was a woman?"

"The Naboo have women leaders all the time. When was the last time we elected a man to be king?"

"We don't elect women. We elect girls. And we give them girls as bodyguards."

"We volunteered. So did Amidala."

"Amidala was _fourteen_ when she was elected. We were around the same age when we started to serve. Younger still when we began to train. How old were you when you first held a blaster? I was eight. A child soldier by any measure, thrilled by tales of glory and honor, hoping for a queen who looked like me so that I'd have a chance to throw myself into the line of fire for her. Well I got my wish and I saw what it really was. We could have died any number of times. Cordé did die. And for what?"

"For her! And for democracy, and peace, and everything you used to believe in!"

Sabé sighed, suddenly feeling her lack of sleep. "I still believe in those things, Eirtaé. We just disagree on how to achieve them. We were recruited and fed a bunch of lies and used. The republic could've cared less whether we lived or died, even Amidala."

Eirtaé winced at this but continued on.

"The Jedi council is dissolved. Most of them dead."

"Good! The Jedi! Another council of men making choices that effect our lives. They got what they deserved."

"What about Adi Gallia? Yaddle?"

"Don't give me exceptions that prove the rule. You know better than that."

Eirtaé paused and looked at her friend. She hadn't come to fight, and Sabé looked so weary. Eirtaé sought her friend's eyes but Sabé looked stubbornly away. Eirtaé sighed.

"We buried her today you know."

"I know."

"You weren't there."

"I had a prior engagement."

"You could have cancelled."

"I didn't want to. I didn't want to go."

"They say she was murdered by a rogue Jedi."

"So?"

"I don't believe it. Neither do the others. We think it was this so called emperor."

"Palpatine? The one she helped bring to power? It probably was. That's what they do to us. That's why I won't be a part of it."

"She loved you, you know."

"She used me until I was too tall to be her decoy then she dismissed me. She used all of us. I just figured it out first."

"She was used too."

"That doesn't make it better."

Eirtaé sighed and stood up.

"Fine. I just wanted to see if you were ok. We missed you today."

"I'm fine. I'm fantastic."

"Ok. I'll see you around Sabé."

"Sure. Let me know when you get tired of not being in charge of your own life and want to join. We'll have a place for you."

Eirtaé smiled. "Sure. Be well."

Sabé watched Eirtaé walk out, her long cloak concealing the blaster she carried even in mourning. She stood aside as a tall Gungan woman marched into the room then disappeared through the door as silently as she'd come.

"Ma'am? The Kaadu are ready."

Sabé quickly wiped her eyes and stood up.

"Thanks Peppi. And please call me Sabé. I'm not your boss."

"No ma'am. But you are our leader."

Sabé smiled and, shoulder to shoulder, she and Peppi walked into the night.


End file.
